We are urgently developing research requirements with other European laboratories to make sure we understand and the disease (Schmallenberg) better.Jeremy Clarkson hits out at Government's farm rules
TOP Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has hit out at the red tape hanging over farmers after he became the latest celebrity to move into farming.
Mr Clarkson announced his latest move which has seen him buy a 18 hectare (45 acre) farm on the Oxfordshire/Gloucestershire border, in his regular column in The Sunday Times.
Hitting out at NVZ rules, boundary mapping and environmental schemes, he claims rules and red tape surrounding farming are making it harder for farmers to make a living.
He said: “He (Gordon Brown) will give me cash money if I promise to make a trout lake, and even more cash money if I don’t grow anything that could be turned into food. Quite how he squares this in his head when half the world is starving, I have no idea.
“And nor do I understand why the forms I have to fill in to get this cash money are longer and more complicated than the instruction manual for a nuclear power station.”
Mr Clarkson said he planned to use the land to rear sheep as well as grow game crops but was growing increasingly frustrated by the variety of rules and regulations governing what he could do.
He also responded to concerns from neighbours that he might ‘turn the farm into a racetrack’, saying they ‘couldn’t be more wrong’.
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Readers' comments (11)
cyberdoyle | 29 September 2009 12:00 pm
I read the article Jeremy wrote on Sunday and thought it was excellent! Well done Jeremy, and welcome to the wonderful world of Defra. As a fellow farmer I hope you continue to expose the ridiculous hoops we have to jump through to grow the food which feeds these fwits.
Kudos.
chris
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Alex Morrell | 29 September 2009 1:06 pm
If Mr Clarkson is worried about the worlds poor suffering from starvation he should consider growing crops for human consumption and not rearing meat (which is far less efficient means of utilising land to feed the human population).
He should also consider whether the steel, diesel and other components that go into manufacturing cars are best put to use congesting the M25. Could they not be more effectivley reallocated to address the problems of the malnourished?
I have no problem with Mr Clarkson and his lifestyle if it makes him happy. However, he should not explain away his aspirations based on a concern for the worlds poor - they patently are not.
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Anonymous | 29 September 2009 2:29 pm
If Jeremy Clarkson has to employ a book keeper he will then be astounded by the red tape and information they will have to record about him in the name of money laundering!!!!
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Victor Lovedale | 29 September 2009 2:40 pm
I ran in The Great North Run on 20.9.2009. along with 54,000 others.
We all had EID tags on our laces or ankle bands. All entrants were recorded going over the start line and the finish line. Race times were then text almost immediately to upto 5 mobile numbers provided per entrant.
I reckon it took around 45 minutes for the 54K to go over the start equating to 72k multiple reads per hour, 1200 per minute fully recorded & transmitted to appropriate recipients. And it worked perfectly.
What are DEFRA plus other member Eu states playing around with attempting to EID tag and record a few sheep with old unproven technology at it’s limits when coherent proven technology clearly works ?
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Chris Williams | 29 September 2009 3:23 pm
Welcome to the mad world of paper shuffling. As a farmer I seem to spend more time worrying about the paper work than I do getting on with the farming. Wait until you have to start tagging sheep, I would love to know how the govenrment can condone putting two tags in sheeps ears and then waiting for them to rip out when we are supposed to worry about the health and welfare of our animals. I for one think tagging is becoming barbaric.
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James Tomlinson | 29 September 2009 5:45 pm
Alex Morrell is quite confused about the pros and cons of meat and crop production The main question is can we still justify producing food which is not essential for survival for example chocolate products, biscuits crisps etc.We could save massive amounts of resources and the population would not be so fat. Everybody benefits
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Anonymous | 29 September 2009 10:57 pm
The farming press was a refuge from Jeremy Clarkson and his self obsessed rantings are we now going to have to put up with him telling us all what to do? Stick to being a pain in the motoring world and leave serious farmers alone Clarkson.
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opt out | 29 September 2009 11:49 pm
It's amazing how, if you dont accept the subsidy peanuts, then you dont have to fill many forms in and you get left alone ! Accepting subsidies is not compulsory. Life has been much better for me since I opted out of all subsidies. Also, if your business doesnt pay without them, well your business isnt making a profit ! So go do something else with your land !
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serious food producer | 30 September 2009 5:36 pm
Mr opt out obviously doesn't have to rely on producing food for a living. To me the farm payment is a necessity not a luxury. With wheat at £93/ton a profit is out of the question. The subsidy is to keep the price of food apparently low on the shelf-- the aim of every govt since the war.
Telling us to do something else with our land when 2/3 go to bed hungry every night is both arrogant and offensive!!
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Charles White | 1 October 2009 10:33 am
Well dont go and get planning to build a barn on your farm because if like me you do that, the local authority will tell you to demolish it after its been built. www.phoenixbarn.co.uk
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